so much jem, so little time

i was slightly disappointed wtih disc 3 of jem. while i was quite getting into the characters and story lines, there were no extras except the ability to watch all the music videos in a row--really too much video at once.

but disc 4 made up for it all. 2 episodes of commentary, and interview with the writer and an interview with the speaking voice of jem, who apparently is a pop star now, or wants to be. (so when she comes to la to play a concert, i expect someone to come with me) both of these people peaked in their jem years and have nothing but fondness for it and would love to do another jem. and apparently there are crazy fans who would love to see another jem. one disturbing piece of info i learned was that there were, and currently are, crazy cos players who dress up as jem, or the misfits and actually play the music. this is stranger than anime people because jem is 20 yrs old and it takes musical talent to play music. anyway, the next time a misfits tribute band (the jem ones, not the danzig ones) rolls into town, i'll be there, dressed in zebra and hot pink.

also, the specialest feature of all, a handful of the psa's that ran with the show. remember how inspector gadget always had an important lesson about not talking ot strangers, or not playing with fire. well, so did jem. but hers seemed more random. don't get in a car with strangers, ask for help from someone in charge if you lose your mom, don't lie to your mom about ripping your dress, don't take other people's perscriptions, don't steal jem cassettes, and my personal favorite, don't play with live wires. and at the end of each psa jem tells us "you did the right thing, and doing the right thing makes you a superstar" jem, i do the right thing! i'm a superstar!

disc 3 has the obligatory going to hawaii episode and includes things like luaus, island boys and getting trapped by a volcano. they all learn a lesson, and it all works out in the end. or something.

there's also an episode where they go to some european country where kimber looks just like the princess. there's a case of mistaken idendity and the people trying to do in the princess kidnap her instead. etc. etc. they all learn a lesson, and it all works out in the end

disc 4 leaves us with some very good episodes. there's the indy 500 one where starlight music sponsors a driver, but the misfits cause him to have an accident, so jem just steps in. when pizzaz of the misfits sees this, she pulls the driver she's sponsoring out of his car and tries to beat jem. of course jem wins.even though she's never driven competitively before. and the holograms get to play the victory concert. and the misfits get mad. good wins over evil and it all works out in the end.

then we get to the "jem jam" a 2 part episode, with commentary on the first one. the writer is a little to pleased with herself, working thinly veiled 80's celebrities into the concert. unfortunately instead of having lots of songs featuring these new celebrities, they make the foster girls do the music videos. we learn the back story of Ba Nee (who was being made into a doll, so needed to be featured in a story) who was separated from her family in viet nam or something. and she longs for her dad (and in the last episode of the show --which is far from being on dvd :(-- her dad comes for her. and we have to hear about the writer and her experience with vietnamese orphans and i have to comment again--for gosh sakes, this is jem, a show about a holographic rock star, not a lifetime tv movie. luckily dvds come with fast forward and i didn't have to listen to that crappy song about fathers more than once. Meanwhile Ba Nee thinks one of the rock stars is her dad. but of course, she learns he's not, and it all works out in the end.

if anyone wants to start a jem cover band, i'm totally in. i'll even learn to play an instrument. surely, they're easier to play if they're pink.

at the start of my jem dvd watching i wasn't so into jem. i was kinda mad that i didn't remember anything about the show. but that has passed, and it feels like jem is my old friend now, and i care about her and what she does. this weekend i'm going to watch all of season 3. then i'll be out of jem. i may go into depression, we'll see if the my little pony that's next in my queue will lift me out of that depression.